Using Leaves to Overwinter Plants

We have Al here, who asks, ‘Have you noticed the leaves this, year how late it is? I mean, it’s been crazy for leaves this year or what? My main question is this: all those beautiful shrubs I bought from Rohr’s this year. They’re all asleep now. Now, I only did the hydrangeas, I put the leaves around the base. What about my other ones? Are they okay? I’ve got the coral bells and I have those little small grasses. Do I need to cover all of them since they’re still new?’

The Oaks especially came down really really late this year. I did not get mine cleaned up. I know a lot of people got most of it right up but I’m so sorry for the people who have not got them up yet, because now you’ve got this snow. It makes it a mess. Now you have to shovel leaves!

Using the leaves wouldn’t hurt, especially the coral bells. Grasses are usually pretty tough, but it sounds like you do have some extra leaves laying around. It wouldn’t hurt to do so, especially if they are out more so in weather and environment, and not protected. It wouldn’t hurt. You just want to make sure you pull the leaves back off before it starts actively growing.

If you have any evergreens like boxwood or azaleas or rhododendrons, this is the time of year where once we have a few days now, if we warm back up above freezing, you can apply wilt proof to those products and or to those plants. Wilt Proof is a product that will help seal the foliage and prevent the loss of moisture through the January-February time frame when we get really cold for extended periods of time. Mainly just the evergreens is what we spray the will proof on, so boxwood, azaleas, rhododendron, pieris japonica. They help those plants go through the winter without getting any leaf damage.

Questions? Email us at [email protected] or call one of our two locations: Portage (330-499-0101) or Everhard (330-492-1243).